Pulse oximetry signal correction using near infrared absorption by water

1. A method of determining a physiological parameter, comprising:

obtaining a first absorbance at a first wavelength, wherein the first wavelength is chosen to be primarily absorbed by water;

obtaining a second absorbance at a second wavelength, wherein the second wavelength is chosen to be primarily absorbed by hemoglobin;

estimating a first ratio-of-ratios between the first absorbance and the second absorbance; and

using the first ratio-of-ratios to identify motion noise.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising

obtaining a third absorbance at a third wavelength, wherein the third wavelength is chosen to be primarily absorbed by hemoglobin;

calculating a corrected second absorbance by subtracting a first fraction of the first absorbance from the second absorbance; and

calculating a corrected third absorbance by subtracting a second fraction of the first absorbance from the third absorbance.

3. The method of claim 2 , comprising:

rescaling the corrected second absorbance to obtain a rescaled second absorbance; and

rescaling the corrected third absorbance to obtain a rescaled third absorbance,

wherein the rescaling of the corrected second absorbance and the corrected third absorbance maintains a ratio-of-ratios between the rescaled second absorbance and the rescaled third absorbance that is independent of changes in the subtracted first and section fractions of the first absorbance.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

calculating a first oxygen saturation value using a two wavelength algorithm based on the rescaled second absorbance and the rescaled third absorbance; and

calculating a second oxygen saturation value using a two wavelength algorithm based on the second absorbance and the third absorbance.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

displaying the first oxygen saturation value during periods of high motion noise;

displaying the second oxygen saturation value during periods of low motion noise;

calculating an intermediate oxygen saturation value using the first and second oxygen saturation values; and

displaying the intermediate oxygen saturation value during periods of intermediate motion noise.

6. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

calculating an oxygen saturation value using a two wavelength algorithm based on the rescaled second absorbance and the rescaled third absorbance.

7. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

calculating a first pulse rate value using the rescaled second absorbance; and

calculating a second pulse rate value using the second absorbance.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

displaying the first pulse rate value during periods of high motion noise;

displaying the second pulse rate value during periods of low motion noise;

calculating an intermediate pulse rate value using the first and second pulse rate values; and

displaying the intermediate pulse rate value during periods of intermediate motion noise.

9. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

calculating a pulse value using the corrected second absorbance or the rescaled second absorbance.

10. The method of claim 2 , further comprising using an algorithm to calculate the value of the first fraction and the value of the second fraction.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the algorithm minimizes the standard deviation of a resulting waveform.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the algorithm minimizes the power of a resulting waveform.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the algorithm minimizes the skewness of a resulting waveform.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the algorithm is chosen to reduce errors in the calculation of oxygen saturation and pulse rate.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the algorithm comprises an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter.

16. A system for signal correction in pulse oximetry, the system comprising:

a pulse oximeter monitor, wherein the pulse oximeter monitor is configured to analyze a first absorbance signal substantially corresponding to motion noise, to analyze a second absorbance signal chosen to be primarily absorbed by hemoglobin, to analyze a third absorbance signal chosen to be primarily absorbed by hemoglobin, to adjust the second absorbance signal to compensate for noise by subtracting a first fraction of the first absorbance signal from the second absorbance signal to obtain a corrected second absorbance signal, and to adjust the third absorbance signal to compensate for noise by subtracting a second fraction of the first absorbance signal from the third absorbance signal to obtain a corrected third absorbance signal, wherein the pulse oximeter monitor is further configured to rescale the corrected second absorbance signal to obtain a rescaled second absorbance signal, and to rescale the corrected third absorbance signal to obtain a rescaled third absorbance signal, wherein the rescaling maintains a ratio-of-ratios between the rescaled second absorbance signal and the rescaled third absorbance signal that is independent of changes in the subtracted first and section fractions of the first absorbance.

17. The system of claim 16 , further comprising a pulse oximetry sensor, wherein the sensor comprises optical emitters and detectors configured to emit and detect light at a first wavelength chosen to be primarily absorbed by water, to emit and detect light at a second wavelength chosen to be primarily absorbed by hemoglobin, and to emit and detect light at a third wavelength chosen to be primarily absorbed by hemoglobin, wherein the first absorbance signal analyzed by the pulse oximeter monitor is based on the first wavelength emitted and detected by the pulse oximetry sensor.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the pulse oximeter monitor is configured to combine the first absorbance signal and the second absorbance signal to obtain a metric that identifies the presence of motion noise.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the pulse oximeter monitor is configured to calculate a first oxygen saturation value using the rescaled second absorbance signal and the rescaled third absorbance signal, and to calculate a second oxygen saturation value using the first absorbance signal and the second absorbance signal.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the pulse oximeter monitor is configured to display the first oxygen saturation value during periods of high motion noise, to display the second oxygen saturation value during periods of low motion noise, to calculate an intermediate oxygen saturation value using the first oxygen saturation value and the second oxygen saturation value, and to display the intermediate oxygen saturation value during periods of intermediate motion noise.

21. The system of claim 16 , wherein the pulse oximeter monitor is configured to calculate an oxygen saturation value using the rescaled second absorbance signal and the rescaled third absorbance signal.

22. The system of claim 16 , wherein the pulse oximeter monitor is configured to calculate a first pulse rate value from the rescaled second absorbance signal and the rescaled third absorbance signal, and to calculate a second pulse rate value from the second absorbance signal and the third absorbance signal.

23. The system of claim 22 , wherein the pulse oximeter monitor is configured to display the first pulse rate value during periods of high motion noise, to display the second pulse rate value during periods of low motion noise, to calculate an intermediate pulse rate value using the first pulse rate value and the second pulse rate value, and to display the intermediate pulse rate value during periods of intermediate motion noise.

24. The system of claim 16 , wherein the pulse oximeter monitor is configured to calculate a pulse rate value from the rescaled or corrected second and third absorbance signals.

25. One or more tangible, machine readable media, comprising code executable to perform the acts of:

obtaining a first absorbance at a first wavelength, wherein the first wavelength is chosen to be primarily absorbed by water;

obtaining a second absorbance at a second wavelength, wherein the second wavelength is chosen to be primarily absorbed by hemoglobin;

estimating a first ratio-of-ratios between the first absorbance and the second absorbance; and

using the first ratio-of-ratios to identify motion noise.

26. The one or more tangible, machine readable media of claim 25 , further comprising code executable to perform the acts of:

obtaining a third absorbance at a third wavelength, wherein the third wavelength is chosen to be primarily absorbed by hemoglobin;

calculating a corrected second absorbance by subtracting a first fraction of the first absorbance from the second absorbance; and

calculating a corrected third absorbance by subtracting a second fraction of the first absorbance from the third absorbance.

27. The one or more tangible, machine readable media of claim 26 , further comprising code executable to perform the acts of:

rescaling the corrected second absorbance to obtain a rescaled second absorbance; and

rescaling the corrected third absorbance to obtain a rescaled third absorbance,

wherein the rescaling of the corrected second absorbance and the corrected third absorbance maintains a ratio-of-ratios between the rescaled second absorbance and the rescaled third absorbance that is independent of changes in the subtracted first and section fractions of the first absorbance.

28. The one or more tangible, machine readable media of claim 27 , further comprising code executable to perform the acts of:

calculating a first oxygen saturation value using a two wavelength algorithm based on the rescaled second absorbance and the rescaled third absorbance; and

calculating a second oxygen saturation value using a two wavelength algorithm based on the second absorbance and the third absorbance.

29. The one or more tangible, machine readable media of claim 28 , further comprising code executable to perform the acts of:

displaying the first oxygen saturation value during periods of high motion noise;

displaying the second oxygen saturation value during periods of low motion noise;

calculating an intermediate oxygen saturation value using the first oxygen saturation value and the second oxygen saturation value; and

displaying the intermediate oxygen saturation value during periods of intermediate motion noise.

30. The one or more tangible, machine readable media of claim 27 , further comprising code executable to perform the acts of:

calculating a first pulse rate value using the rescaled second absorbance; and

calculating a second pulse rate value using the second absorbance.

31. The one or more tangible, machine readable media of claim 30 , further comprising code executable to perform the acts of:

displaying the first pulse rate value during periods of high motion noise;

displaying the second pulse rate value during periods of low motion noise;

calculating an intermediate pulse rate value using the first pulse rate value and the second pulse rate value; and

displaying the intermediate pulse rate value during periods of intermediate motion noise.

32. The one or more tangible, machine readable media of claim 27 , further comprising code executable to perform the acts of:

calculating a pulse rate value using the rescaled second absorbance or the corrected second absorbance.

33. The one or more tangible, machine readable media of claim 26 , further comprising code executable to perform the acts of:

Calculating an oxygen saturation value using a two wavelength algorithm based on the rescaled second absorbance and the rescaled third absorbance.

34. The one or more tangible, machine readable media of claim 26 , further comprising code executable to perform the act of using an algorithm to calculate the value of the first fraction and the value of the second fraction.

35. The one or more tangible, machine readable media of claim 34 , wherein the algorithm minimizes the standard deviation of a resulting waveform.

36. The one or more tangible, machine readable media of claim 34 , wherein the algorithm minimizes the power of a resulting waveform.

37. The one or more tangible, machine readable media of claim 34 , wherein the algorithm minimizes the skewness of a resulting waveform.

38. The one or more tangible, machine readable media of claim 34 , wherein the algorithm is chosen to reduce errors in the calculation of oxygen saturation and pulse rate.

39. The one or more tangible, machine readable media of claim 34 , wherein the algorithm is an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter.